A lint brush is a tool for removing lint accumulated on clothing, upholstery, or other surfaces. There are different models of both travel size and full size rollers. In addition to lint, this brush can be used to pick up other types of debris that cling to garments, such as dust, dirt, or pet fur. Prior to the existence of lint rollers, a person would remove lint from clothing by wrapping their hand with tape, where the sticky side points out, then brush their hand across the surface to pick up any lint or other debris. Clothes brushes were also used to clean and remove lint from clothes.
Typically, a lint brush, sometimes referred to as a lint roller, consists of a handle and a barrel extending from the handle. The barrel is sized to receive a roll of paper with an adhesive applied to one side of the paper roll. In some lint rollers, the barrel is rigidly attached to the handle and the roll of paper rotates around the barrel. In other rollers, the barrel is rotatably attached to the handle so that the roll of paper and the barrel rotate together relative to the handle. Typically, the adhesive is light in nature in that it is sticky enough to pick up lint and other light debris but will not stick to the garment or surface, nor will it stick to the individual layers of the roll of paper so that each layer of paper may easily be pulled off to expose a clean layer of adhesive covered paper. In use, after a clean section is exposed, the lint roller is rolled over a surface to pick up debris. When the lint roller surface is no longer sticky, the outer-most layer is peeled off to reveal a clean layer underneath. After a roll is used, the roll is replaced with a fresh roll.
Another type of lint brush more closely resembles a hair brush, but instead of bristles, one end is covered with a special fabric designed to attract and hold dust and lint. This type of lint brush is used by brushing the brush in only one direction over a surface, thereby trapping debris within the structure of the brush fabric. The brush is then cleaned by brushing the brush opposite the direction used to collect and trap the debris, where the debris is pulled from the structure of the fabric. To make this style of lint brush as user friendly as possible, many brush models are reversible in that the brush head swivels or the head has two sides, each side having the brush fabric pointing in opposite directions.
It is commonly believed that Nicholas McKay from the United States invented the first lint remover in 1956. McKay was an American inventor and entrepreneur best known for his first commercial product, the Lint Pic-Up. McKay had the idea after using masking tape, a paper roll, and some wire to clean his suit before chaperoning his son's high school dance in 1956. He and his late wife Helen formed Helmac the next day, which eventually held 92% of the American market for lint rollers in 1996, However, numerous patents have been filed years earlier for lint rollers and brushes, most notably by Charles F Slater and Homer T Clark, who both filed patents in the US for lint rollers.
An example of earlier patent filings for lint rollers is U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,842, entitled “Rotary Cleaner Roll and Container therefor”, issued to C. F. Slater on Jun. 11, 1946. This patent discloses an elongated tube with an adhesive roll wrapped around the center area of the roll. The combination of elongated tube with the adhesive roll is sized to fit into a protective cylinder with a removable cap at one end. To use the invention, a user removes the tube with adhesive roll from the protective cylinder, then holds the tube at either end to roll it over a surface to pick up lint and other debris.
Another example of an early patent filing is U.S. Pat. No. 2,423,962, entitled “Lint Remover”, issued to Homer T. Clark and Carl J. Paterson on Jul. 15, 1947. This patent discloses a holder having a roll of adhesive tape mounted inside the holder such that the roll of tape is exposed above the edges of the holder. A user removes the cover from the holder then rolls the invention over a surface thereby removing lint and debris. As with other lint rollers, a user must expose a fresh layer of tape when dust and debris sufficiently cover the surface of the current layer. As with other inventions of this size, a user will need to expose many layers due to the reduced surface area of a travel-size lint roller.
Yet another example of a lint roller is U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,060, entitled “Rotary Adhesive Roll Fabric Cleaning Device”, issued to T. R. Mckenzie on Jan. 6, 1953. This patent discloses a frame configured to receive a roll of adhesive backed material usable to remove lint and debris from a surface. In some embodiments, the frame is a wire frame formed with section that allows a user to place the invention on a surface without the surface of the adhesive roll touching the surface. In other embodiments, the frame is a single piece of molded plastic with a hood that allows a user to place the invention on a surface without the adhesive contacting a surface. This invention fails to disclose the use of a cover or other configuration allowing the invention to be used in a travel environment.
A more recent patent related to lint rollers is U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,213, entitled “Free Standing Lint Roller with Case”, which issued to Flavio DeRoma on Oct. 3, 2006. This invention discloses a decorative lint roller having a handle and a rotatable barrel extending from the handle. A roll of lint paper is slid over the barrel thereby enabling the user to roll the adhesive roll to pick up lint and other debris. When not in use, the roll of lint paper is inserted into a decorative case that matches the shape and form of the handle. This invention fails to disclose a travel-sized version.
What is needed in the industry is a lint roller configurable for use as a tool to loosen any foreign substance or material from a surface as well as a lint roller to pick up and remove lint or other material.